Down End Castle, also known as Downend Castle, Chisley Mount or Chidley Mount, was a

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

at Down End, north of

Dunball Dunball is a small hamlet west of the village of Puriton and close to the town of Bridgwater, Somerset, England. Just north of Dunball is Down End which is the site of Down End Castle a motte-and-bailey castle, which has been designated as a Sch ...

in the parish of

Puriton Puriton is a village and parish at the westerly end of the Polden Hills, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. The parish has a population of 1,968. The local parish church is dedicated to St Michael and All Angels. A chapel on Woola ...

, Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

History

Down End Castle was built at Down End, north of Dunball in Somerset, England. The castle has a motte and bailey design, with the two baileys lying to the north of the motte; the inner bailey has one bank and the outer one a double bank. The mound measures across the top, and may have exploited an existing Viking site. The castle was once fed water by a

natural spring A spring is a point of exit at which groundwater from an aquifer flows out on top of Earth's crust (pedosphere) and becomes surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fresh w ...

at the base of the motte. Recent academic work has suggested that the castle was built around 1100, after the surrounding region of Somerset had become stable in the years following the

Norman invasion of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conquer ...

and the subsequent Anglo-Saxon rebellion against Norman rule. The location Down End was strategically well placed, as the nearby

Parrett The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the Somerset Levels to it ...

is an important tidal river, essential for trade during the early medieval period.Prior, p.89. The de Columbers were probably responsible for building the castle, which also enjoyed a good defensive position on a natural ridge, protected by several nearby streams; the family also built nearby

Stowey Castle Stowey Castle (or Nether Stowey Castle known locally as The Mount) was a Norman motte-and-bailey castle, built in the 11th century, in the village of Nether Stowey on the Quantock Hills in Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Scheduled ...

. Norman and later pottery and iron objects were found during excavations in 1908; these match those found at the nearby castle of Neroche, also built around 1100. Down End became a new borough town in 1225, but may have existed as a settlement and port from 1159 onwards; the de Columbers were lords of the manor of nearby Puriton in the late 12th century. After the creation of

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

town and

, however, Down End began to face fierce competition as a port: Bridgwater eventually became dominant and Down End went into decline. Today only the earthworks remain, and the site is a scheduled monument.

Notes

References

Bibliography

*Chater, A. G. and F. Albany. (1909) "Excavations at Downend, near Bridgwater, 1908", ''Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society'' 55, pp. 162–7. *Creighton, Oliver Hamilton. (2005) ''Castles and Landscapes: Power, Community and Fortification in Medieval England.'' London: Equinox. . *Dunning, Robert. (1995) ''Somerset Castles.'' Tiverton, UK: Somerset Books. . *Gathercole, Clare. (2003)
An Archaeological Assessment of Down End: Somerset Extensive Urban Survey
'. Taunton, UK: Somerset County Council. *Prior, Stuart. (2006)
The Norman Art of War: a Few Well-Positioned Castles.
' Stroud, UK: Tempus. {{ISBN, 0-7524-3651-1. Castles in Somerset Scheduled monuments in Sedgemoor

History

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography